Popovich chose to rest All-Star guard Tony Parker and Spurs captain Tim Duncan for a 137-97 drubbing to the Trail Blazers that turned out to be the Spurs’ worst loss since Popovich’s first season in 1996-97. The Spurs already were missing Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter and T.J. Ford from their normal playing rotation.

The Spurs had already lost six games in a row in Portland with their complete rotation over the years. And they had failed to break 100 points in their last last 13 games against the Trail Blazers. The Spurs were likely going to struggle against Portland even if Popovich arranged to bring David Robinson, Sean Elliott and George Gervin out of retirement for the game — with Duncan and Parker in tow for 40 minutes apiece in the Rose Garden.

But Tramel made the point in his blog that Popovich’s actions “cheated” the NBA.

“The San Antonio Spurs tanked a game Tuesday night,” Tramel wrote. “There is no better way to say it. The Spurs played a game and didn’t try to win.”

He went deeper in his categorization of the game.

“Popovich cheated the game Tuesday night,” Tramel wrote. “Not cheated as in rigged the game clock or bugged the Blazer locker room. Cheated the game as in didn’t give a variety of elements their money’s worth. Cheated the game as in didn’t respect the competitive side of a league that long has battled the perception that regular-season games don’t matter much.”

Tramel alleged that Popovich “cheated” ticket buyers, national fans, the networks and the Trail Blazers’ rivals in the Northwest Division.

“San Antonio played at Utah on Monday night, at Portland on Tuesday night and goes to Denver on Thursday night,” Tramel wrote. “The Jazz, Nuggets and Blazers are all wrangling for playoff positioning, perhaps even the eighth spot in the West, which is the last seat on the lifeboat.

“Popovich made the decision to play his stars against Utah on Monday, and the Spurs won. We assume the stars will play Thursday night at Denver. But Pop gave Portland a game. If the Blazers reach the playoffs by a game over Denver and/or Utah, Portland should send Popovich a bottle of wine.”

I’m curious Spurs Nation. What do you think of my friend’s logic in Oklahoma City?